COMEDIAN Ken Dodd's dream of turning a 19th-century home into a comedy museum for Liverpool lay in ruins last night.

COMEDIAN Ken Dodd's dream of turning a 19th-century home into a comedy museum for Liverpool lay in ruins last night.

It follows a Bonfire Night blaze at Thingwall Hall in Knotty Ash, putting it beyond restoration.

Just before 11am yesterday, a bulldozer smashed through the wall in Thomas Lane into the grounds of the Victorian manor house.

Workers said they had to demolish the red brick wall because the machine was too big to fit through the gate.

Campaigner Yvonne Irving watched on in disbelief as the bulldozer started to destroy the 19th century manor house.

She said: "This is a devastating day for all of us. There was so much history in that house that has just been destroyed. Ken called me at about 1.30am this morning and he was just devastated.

"He was so upset. This was always our worst fear and now it has finally happened. It is absolutely heartbreaking."

The comedian, inset, right, who watched the demolition from his window, said: "I am sad and disgusted at what I have witnessed today.

"I warned that this would happen but nobody would listen. It is a disgrace."

The "Squire of Knotty Ash" has been battling to convert the manor house into a comedy museum.

Thingwall Hall has not been used for a number of years. It is owned by the Knotty Ash Special School Trust and the city council is its trustee.

The blaze at the house was one of 600 call-outs for Merseyside Fire Brigade on Bonfire Night before midnight. Firefighters were called to the house just after 8pm and battled the huge blaze for more than six hours.

Fire crews were also called out to an explosion after yobs planted fireworks under a black Rover, which exploded in September Road, Tuebrook, at 11pm.

Bomb disposal teams and Merseyside Police were called to the explosion.

Meanwhile, a family of three fled a blaze after their house was torched in a suspected arson attack. The fire broke out in the first floor flat in Croxteth Hall Lane, Croxteth at 8pm.

One firefighter suffered minor injuries after thugs threw bricks as crews attempted to put out a blaze in Gray Grove at 8pm. Around six flats were damaged. More than 25 cars were destroyed by fire after an arson attack at the Perry and Sherlock workshop in Park Road North, Birkenhead.

Petrol and gas cylinders fuelled the blaze.

And around 20 cars were damaged after a suspected arson attack in Regent Road, Widnes, shortly before 10pm.

Two large workshops on the industrial estate were also damaged.

A large firework blasted through a schoolgirl's bedroom window and set her bed alight.

The 10-year-old was not at home when a rocket smashed through the window on Edith Street, Bootle at 11pm. It exploded as it entered the room and then hit the headboard of the girl's bed.